


Ghosts

by Mariah Shepard (Vesania94)



Series: Rose Colored Glass: The Mariah Shepard Story [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Mass Effect 2, Snipers, omega - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-06 01:11:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11589933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesania94/pseuds/Mariah%20Shepard
Summary: As Archangel makes his last stand, he sees a ghost that should not be there.





	Ghosts

He could see three more mercs running towards him, one hefting a large sniper rifle with ease. Garrus blinked. That couldn’t–

The figure in front lifted the rifle and blew the head of one of the mercs in front of her to bits, sprinting towards a crate before diving behind it, backing up and facing him while she peered around the edge, reloading the gun like she had a thousand times before.

_Shepard._

One glance through his scope confirmed it. He had officially lost it. There was no denying chocolate tresses that were currently tied back in a pony tail, which flicked as she whipped herself around the crate and took a pot shot at an on coming Blue Sun, the bullet tearing through the man’s jaw and face.

So his ghosts were finally back to stand with him during his last stand. Appropriate.

He ducked as bullets whizzed past him, nearly clipping his armor. It didn’t make sense. Ghosts didn’t shoot people. Maybe he was hallucinating. He checked over again, frowning when the bodies just kept piling up.

A test maybe. That armor couldn’t be real. She couldn’t be real.

He loaded up a concussive round, and aimed for her left shoulder, feeling the trigger. It felt wrong– almost vile to be shooting at her, hallucination or not. 

The gun slammed into his shoulder, and milliseconds later the apparition buckled, cursing and gripping her shoulder where it had hit. Through the scope he could see her face screw up in pain before she turned, glaring at him right through the scope.

Her eyes were violet. It wasn’t Shepard.

She made a gesture, a human, Mariah gesture. Foisting her middle finger into the air, and winking at him before sniping another merc off the top of some crates as it took aim at him. He looked harder at her, the scope tracing the lines of scars over her face and neck; a few still leaking red lights onto the crates behind her.

Not violet then. Crystal blue, with cybernetics behind them, still unhealed.

Mariah Eleanor Shepard, back from the dead.

It was impossible. But then again, so was she if he remembered correctly.

Her team darted back into the room, her gun sweeping from side to side, searching for more targets. He straightened up and took another few shots, picking off the stragglers.

“Archangel?”

Spirits he’d almost forgotten how much he missed her voice. He set the rifle down, clicking off the helmet from its seals, peeling it off as he turned to face her.

“Shepard,” Garrus stuttered. “You look… different.”

Mariah glared at him, the faint red glow of the augmentations tinting her irises until the normally pale blue turned violet. “I know.”

“Are you–“

“I’m fine, Vakarian,” she spat, shouldering her sniper rifle. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Hold up. You were dead. You can’t just explain that away this easily,” Garrus protested.

She tensed. He could almost feel her whole body wince at the accusation. “I… was,” she said softly. “But I’m not anymore. We have things that need dealing with first. I can explain after we get you out of here.”

He wasn’t sure when he had taken a step towards her, but he put his hand on her shoulder, feeling her relax under his fingers. “That works. To the job?”

“To the job,” she whispered, pulling out another clip from her belt. It clacked into the rifle smartly, both she and him taking parallel spots behind the wall. Something clicked between them. A shared knowledge that something trusting had fallen back into place. He had her six, and she had his. Just like old times.


End file.
